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Comfrey has a wide range of uses including herbal medicine (salves, tinctures, compresses), livestock feed (horses, cows, donkeys, sheep, goats, chickens, rabbits, and pigs all love it!), and the making of compost and plant feed concentrates. It is a favorite treat of our chickens and rabbits. Comfrey has historically been used to heal wounds and broken bones. There are several types of comfrey available, but only two (Bocking 4 and Bocking 14) that do not produce seed (and thus do not become a tenacious weed). Be careful about tilling a comfrey bed or plant though. Each little piece of any variety will become a new plant. Bocking 4 >Slightly more palatable to livestock >Higher leaf protein content >Slightly lower concentration of medicinal constituents, but higher per-plant root yields result in the production of more constituents per plant. >More vertical, deep root structure >More drought resistant >More Vigorous >Generally the most suitable choice, unless shallow soils, shallow water table, or growing in large pots >I expect generally avoids the feeder roots of trees better than Bocking 14